Disclaimer: I dun own StarCraft.

A/N: Well here is the third chapter. Oh there isn't nearly as much cussing in this chapter as the previous one so you can stop ranting on about how much of an asshole I am. There is more bloody action than the previous two chapters combined, so rejoice! If you all have been reading then you must be starting to see that John is less sane than he was when Sarah was still alive. That slight insanity will definitely show some more here and there. Enjoy!

The No Feel Soldier

By

Foolish Blue

Chapter 3: First Taste of Blood

12 weeks later…

"You gotta be shittin' me! Everyone of you bastards made it! Damn…Today, you are no longer pathetic little crybabies, but Marines, killers to the core. Congrats, no get the fuck off my training course and outside. There's a Dropship to take you to your new posts on the other side of this planet. Have fun now get the hell outta my sight." Barked Patterson before turning around and walking out to bus filled with more recruits.

"Sir, yes sir!" The new Marines barked before about-facing and striding out the Barracks' door out into the dusty planet of Mar Sara. John frowned and rolled down the face shield on his suit. He and the rest of his squad were decked out in their slightly scuffed suits of CMC-300 battle armor with the exception of Abraham and Carlos, who were Firebats and they used CMF-300 heavy assault armor with flame-thrower attachments. C-14 Gauss rifles holstered at the hip or Plasma Flame-throwers strapped to their arms. The deafening roar of a Dropship's engines was heard in the distance. Its ETA was about a minute, then they were off to the other side of Mar Sara, most soldiers would act as Guards for a Terran base. Not exactly the position John had hoped for, but the Zerg may attack it soon and the Confederacy needed every man they could get.

"Man I did it! Yeeha! I'm a friggen' Marine!" Cheered Jacob.

"Settle down Jacob, we don't need a KIA this early into becoming a Marine." Kate joked.

"Yup, 'dose rocks are nasty enemies. Make ya fall and crap." Ali joined in.

"Man shut it Ali, I'm a hundred times better a Marine than you and you know it, besides I'm your squad leader." Jacob retorted.

"Yuh huh." Ali replied sarcastically.

"Ah come on now. We're teammates, don't fight!" Protested Emily. Everyone with the exception of John turned to her and gave her and awkward stare. She shut up immediately.

"Man I can't wait for some trigger time." Abraham remarked, though it was slightly redundant, as he didn't have a rifle, but rather twin flame-throwers, one on each hand.

"Ha! You would be dead before you can pull that damn trigger." David laughed.

"Right, whatever." Abraham rolled his eyes before closing his suit's face shield.

"Guys, Dropship!" Lindsey yelled over the roar of the engines of the newly arrived Dropship. John looked up from his feet. The Dropship was large and bloated. Several dents and melted sections of the armor were quite noticeable. The pilot had obviously been in combat before. That was good, because John didn't trust any newbie pilot. They often made blinding mistakes such as forgetting to pressurize the Dropship before entering new space. Not so much because they were poorly trained, but rather that they were so damn nervous. John had seen some newbie pilots vomit when teams entered a Dropship for a mission.

"Hi boys 'n girls. My name is Warrant Officer Kimberly Golkavich and I will be your pilot for today. Strap yourselves in!" The female pilot cooed. John briskly walked up into the Dropship. There were 12 seats instead of the usual 8, indicating the ship was modified. Judging from the size of the vessel's engines and how much space was inside, the Dropship was modified for speed and load capacity, not armor. John walked up to a seat and secured himself with a heavy endurance belt. The rest of the Marines did the same.

"Please be careful of luggage falling from overhead compartments and keep all arms and legs inside the aircraft at all times. And we're off!" Kimberly the pilot said loudly over the COM in John's helmet. The Dropship lunged forward and John felt his stomach churn with the G forces. He preferred the old pilot veterans, they definitely knew how to fly.

The familiar roar of the Dropship soothed John and as the G forces began to dissipate, John fell into a light slumber.

"Hey John, dude wake up. We're here." Said a muffled voice. John shrugged off the words and began to fall down into sleep again. Suddenly the sound of metal knuckles rapping against John's helmet caused him to wake up instantly. In a single deft move John undid the security harness around his torso and stood, hand lightly resting on his Gauss rifle's hilt.

"Hey man, we're not in a combat zone. Settle down." John looked up at the voice's origin. It was a Marine from his squad, the reflective visor was up so John could easily tell that it was Jacob Lowell who tried to wake him. John eased up and grunted, keeping his face shield rolled down. Walking out the Dropship, John noticed that he was in a very different base than he was used to. The buildings were all very close together rather than almost 5 miles apart, like the ones in Boot Camp. Yup, the "Confeds" were strictly professional and efficient. John upholstered his Gauss rifle, checked to see if the safety was off, and if it was loaded. John flicked off the safety and checked his clip of ammunition. He was locked and loaded, ready for anything, even betrayal.

"Hey man, 'dis way!" Ali called out. John walked up to him, hand never leaving his Gauss rifle's hilt. When John had reached Ali, Ali shook his head. "Man ease up. We're in Confederate Territory here." Ali said with a light sigh.

John said nothing in reply. Not because he didn't know what to say, but because he considered it a waste of time to speak.

"Whateva man." Ali replied while turning around. John gave the area a good sweep with his golden eyes before turning to follow the rest of his group. John had an uneasy feeling. The Zerg could attack at any moment, without warning. John knew, it had happened to him.

The walk to John's team's Barracks was brisk and rather annoying. The Confederate buildings were so cramped together that the Marines had to walk in a single file line. When John and the rest of the team had reached the Barracks, they all entered immediately and began to disassemble their armor. John, unlike everyone else, kept his armor on and the visor down.

"Hey, don't you want to take your armor off?" Carlos asked. John glanced at Carlos from behind his armor's face shield and said nothing.

"Ignore John, he's completely brain dead." Jacob remarked. Carlos gave John an uneasy glance that read: "Are you okay?" before turning away. This all suited John just fine, he didn't want to talk to anyone at the moment, or ever for that matter.

"Maybe someone should shoot him, that outta wake him up." Iris joked. Several Marines laughed and returned to customizing their bed area. John looked around before flicking the safety on his rifle "off." John rolling his visor up, he then expertly removed portions of his heavy CMC-300 combat suit.

John paused when he began to unseal his torso piece. Something wasn't right. Straining his ears John listened to a strange noise in the background.

"Hey man what's up?" Jacob asked.

"Shut up and listen." John replied icily. The Marines paused and strained their ears, listening for the unheard noise. John's eyes widened, the sound was unmistakable.

It was the sound of a 120-millimeter Arclite Shock Cannon going off, repeatedly.

"Don your armor, were under attack." Jacob said suddenly. Snapping his torso piece closed, slapping on his helmet and shutting his visor, John hefted his Gauss rifle and charged outside, the rest of the Marines in tow. Suddenly his COM barked.

"Marines, this is Colonel Duke. Man your battle stations, the Zerg have attacked."

The voice confirmed it all. The Zerg were here, they were attacking. Now John would finally fight. He would finally kill them.

"Ackerson, Rachich, Leaner and Young. You're with me as Blue team, you to Jackson, we need your flame-throwers. The rest of you, your Green and Iris, you have tactical command. Clear?" Jacob, the team leader barked. John clenched his hand and slapped his fist into his left shoulder. The symbol that he understood. "Acknowledged. Green, head over to the Bunkers and take a defensive position. Blue, were going out as rapid reaction to enemy forces." Jacob calmly ordered. John slapped his left shoulder again and broke away from the rest of his team, following Jacob.

John looked down at his Gauss rifle; he ran a quick check. It was operational. John quickly flicked off his rifle's safety and held it firmly in two hands.

"Stim packs everyone!" Jacob barked. John quickly chinned a switch in his helmet and felt pain lanced through his arms followed by a burning sensation, the stim pack was beginning to take effect. John sprinted ahead with the rest of his unit while breathing deeply. Mentally preparing himself to what was to come.

"Zerg! Open fire!" Jacob shouted. John looked ahead and froze. Approximately 30 meters ahead, five Hydralisks were charging toward the small unit. Statistically, five Marines and a Firebat would be slaughtered by the five hydralisks, but most statistics were wrong.

John froze for only half a second before his training kicked in. Dropping to one knee and bringing his rifle up to his shoulder, John squeezed the trigger. The loud chatter of automatic weaponry filled the air and John, despite his armor's recoil dampening sub systems, felt his rifle kick repeatedly into his shoulder.

The high powered U-238 rounds flew through the air with pinpoint accuracy. All six of John's burst of shots struck their target. The metal spikes slashed through a Hydralisk's carapace like a needle through thin cloth. The metal spikes tore through the Hydralisk's equivalent of a lung and kept going through more flesh. The rounds exited through the Hydralisk's back, leaving torn flesh and shattered bone in its deadly wake. The Hydralisk screeched in utmost pain, blood pumping from it's wound and organs spilling through the large torn holes, but the Hydralisk just kept coming.

John let go of his rifle's trigger and realigned his rifle, this time on the Hydralisks head. He squeezed the trigger for one second and let go. The rounds flew straight, slashing through the Hydralisk's head, tearing flesh, and spraying blood and cartilage into the air. Yet the Hydralisk kept coming.

"Keep shooting!" Jacob barked. John didn't need to be told twice, he squeezed the trigger again and let the deadly rain of lead fly. The Hydralisk squealed as the bullets slapped into John's intended target. The right arm. The metal spikes slashed repeatedly through the Hydralisk's powerful muscle, spraying crimson liquid and white bone until the arm was rendered useless, hanging by a single tendon. John smirked beneath his helmet and aligned his rifle on the Hydralisk again. John pulled the trigger and another volley of death flew. The supersonic rounds cut through what must have been the Hydralisk's neck. A lucky round made it and cut clean through the spinal column, snapping the spinal cord and instantly killing the Hydralisk in a misty puff of dark red blood.

John grinned wickedly beneath his helmet and turned to another Hydralisk. John squeezed the trigger and this time held it in full auto. The Hydralisk shrieked in pain as round after round slapped into it's armored helmet of a head. Bits of bloodied flesh were torn away until finally a round slashed through its miniature brain. In a violent spray of brain fluids and blood, the Hydralisk went down.

John quickly targeted another Hydralisk and pulled the trigger again. Metal spikes flew and again the Hydralisk went down in a beautifully morbid display of blood and guts.

"Hold your fire. Dammit John hold your damn fire!" Jacob yelled. John let go of the trigger that he hadn't realized that he had been holding. The intensity of battle had consumed him, definitely not good if he wanted to survive.

"Dammit man, you gotta hold your fire when they're dead!" Jacob barked. John said nothing and quickly replaced his nearly empty magazine of ammunition. John checked his rifle again and switch the settings to burst mode. This way he would be able to control the amount of lead he sprayed.

"Jacob, were getting an incoming transmission! Listen." Kate then quickly patched the transmission into Blue team's helmets. John carefully listened to every word.

"The Zerg…They're, they're swarming the bunkers…Where the hell is that rapid reaction force!" The voice was of a young man, probably a Lieutenant. The young man spoke in between gasps and there was lots of background screaming as Marines were slaughtered.

"All right, you heard the man! We gotta get the hell over to those Bunkers! Lock 'n load!" Jacob quickly stood to his feet and reloaded his rifle. John slapped his left shoulder and stood. Jacob gazed at the rest of Blue team and when they were all done reloading Jacob hit his helmet, the sign for 'follow me.' Jacob sprinted ahead with John and the rest of the Marines right behind.

They had only run a short ways when John heard a blood-curdling scream. The Marines stopped and turned to the source.

It was David Leaner. David was screaming and twitching madly as if he were intense pain. John quickly scanned his body and found the source of his pain. There was a small puncture, about the size of a baby's fist in his chest. John's eyes widened, he had heard of this, every Marine had. David had just been hit by a Queen's egg, a truly deadly weapon against any organic ground unit. The egg would punch through most armor and bury itself into the target's chest cavity, seconds later the egg would burst and two Broodlings would rip themselves out of the unfortunate Marine, killing him instantly. The Broodlings would then attack any nearby enemy units. There was only one way to stop this attack from happening.

Killing the target before the Broodlings burst forth. John was the first to react, his rifle dropped to waist level and he immediately took a broad-legged stance as he was trained to do. John jerked the trigger once and three U-238 uranium depleted rounds shot forth. The rounds slashed through David's head, tearing his head and splattering bone, blood and brain fluid into the back of his helmet. David's screaming was silenced, but it was too late, the Broodlings had all ready burst forth through his armored chest, spraying blood and bits of organs everywhere. Remnants of David's lungs splattered against John's helmet and he instantly wiped them away with one hand, the other hand jerked his rifle's trigger, spraying supersonic death onto the Broodlings.

The Broodlings managed to shrug off John's and the rest of the Marine's desperate shots and they lunged forward. A Broodling darted through the air and tackled John. He didn't know what to do, he wasn't trained for this, so he relied on the last thing he had. His instincts. Falling to the ground with the Broodling, John dropped his rifle, as it wouldn't be much use now. Pain slapped into John's back when he, Half a ton of neosteel and a 150 pound Broodling slammed into the dusty ground. John quickly gripped the Broodling's neck, choking it and keeping it's deadly toxic spines away from his face. John's grip tightened and he let go of the Broodling's neck with his right hand and placed it on the Broodling's head. John quickly jerked the head to the side with all his strength, hoping that he was right about Broodling anatomy.

An ear-piercing crack rang through the air, confirming John's suspicions. Broodlings had a spine, and if they had a spine, then they had a spinal cord, which could be snapped. The Broodling fell limp on John's chest and he shoved it aside, scooped up his rifle and jumped up, rifle at the ready. The chatter of Gauss rifles on full auto and the roar of plasma fire confirmed the kill of the last Broodling and John allowed himself to relax momentarily.

A stupid mistake, for as soon as John let his muscles relax, pain lanced through his left arm, John grunted and wheeled around, rifle held in his right hand. John let out a strangled gasp at the sight of his attacker.

12 Hydralisks were swiftly advancing onto Blue team's position. They were only 50 meters away and were shooting their lethal spines everywhere.

"Hydras at six o'clock!" John screamed. The Marines of Blue team turned, rifles all ready spraying deadly volleys of metal spikes. John hefted his own rifle and in a single deft movement, flicked it into full auto mode. John straightened his right arm, which held the Gauss rifle and pulled the trigger. The recoil was hell on John's aim, but he managed to hold decently accurate bursts of 10 rounds.

"Open fire on closest Hydra!" Jacob barked, every Marine turned to the closest Hydra and opened up. Abraham was a Firebat however and he rushed forward, spraying deadly plasma flame onto the closest Hydralisks. A hail of deadly rounds slashed repeatedly into the Hydralisk, ripping holes, splashing blood and scattering bits of bone and flesh onto the ground while Abraham's plasma fire melted the carapace off of the serpent's body. The Hydralisk was torn away piece by piece until all that remained was bloody pile of organs onto the ground. John smirked and turned to the next closest Hydralisk. He held the trigger down and more volleys of spikes darted forth, tearing away the Hydralisk's arms, ripping flesh and cracking it's carapace. The Hydralisk let out a scream that sounded like glass shattering before literally exploding as bullet after bullet slammed into it's chest with pinpoint accuracy. The Hydralisk's bits of flesh and intestines splashed onto the remaining Hydralisks, yet they didn't even notice.

"Grenade launchers, seek your own targets!" Jacob screamed. John quickly primed a grenade and slipped it down the barrel of his rifle's grenade launcher. John leveled his rifle and was about to pull the trigger when a single spine from a Hydralisk pierced his cuirass, slashed through his flesh and ripping through his left lung before exiting the other side.

John screamed and sunk to his knees, his vision slightly blurry from the trace amounts of poison that had entered his system. John tasted the coppery tang of blood in his mouth and he, despite his mortal wound, hefted his rifle again and pulled the trigger. A grenade flew and impacted against a Hydralisk's chest, the 40mm highly explosive grenade blew, rending the Hydralisk's carapace, splashing its lungs, intestines, heart, and other nameless organs along the ground. John screamed again when apiece of the Hydralisk's carapace flew at almost supersonic speeds and passed clean through his right shoulder.

The taste of John's own blood seemed to strengthen and he felt himself become dizzy, from blood loss or the Hydralisk's spines he did not know. John slumped onto the ground. It was over. He was dead.

Suddenly fire seemed to well up in John's chest. He didn't know what it was, but it was primal, powerful, and raging. But most of all, it would not allow John to die. John rolled over onto his stomach and pushed himself up. John stood weakly and picked up his Gauss rifle, turning John open fired onto the Hydralisks that were now almost 10 feet away. John screamed in complete and total anger. He would not let himself die this way.

John held the trigger down, not letting go, sending a seemingly endless barrage of metal spikes into his target. The Hydralisk squealed and screeched, music to John's ears, under the crippling fire of his Gauss rifle. The Hydralisk was slowly torn away, first body part to lose was it's scythe-like hands, then it's arms, then it's chest was ripped apart, and finally it's head was shredded to bloody chunks. Blood, bone, organs, and even brain fluid splashed onto John, filling his senses with its rancid smell.

John turned to a new Hydralisk and pulled the trigger of his rifle. One, two, three shots rang out then his rifle clicked a most horrifying sound.

Empty. John threw his rifle down, not bothering to reload, as there wasn't enough time. John drew his sidearm and fired as fast as his trigger finger would allow. While the rounds weren't as powerful as his Gauss rifle's U-238 rounds, they still left their mark on the Hydralisk. The bullets slapped into the tough Hydra carapace, shattering it. Then a lucky shot got through, ripping through the Hydralisk's left eye, piercing its skull and destroying the brain in a brilliant display of blood and gore. The Hydralisk, do to it's reflex system and central nervous system, fell to the ground, twitching and writhing madly while blood pumped out of it's left eye. John deftly reloaded his pistol and looked around for more targets. There were none, apparently the rest of Blue team was competent enough.

"Hey man, you ok? I saw you take some nasty hits, we don't need another dead man." Abraham, the Firebat said with very faint traces of concern. John paused for a moment before replying.

"I'm fine." He said in a firm voice. John was actually hurt pretty bad, his left arm was disabled, his left lung was punctured, and his right shoulder had taken a nasty hit as well. John holstered his handgun and bent over to retrieve his rifle. John's vision went blurry suddenly and he lost his balance. John fell and he blacked out from blood loss and lack of oxygen.

"Shit! I knew he wasn't ok!" Abraham cursed several more times and walked up to John.

"Take off his suit, see what's wrong with him." Jacob ordered. Abraham rolled up his visor and nodded. Abraham quickly undid John's suit and pulled him out of it. Abraham cursed when he saw how rough of shape John was in.

"He's lost a bit of blood and he's gone unconscious from lack of oxygen and there is probably trace amounts of venom running through his systems." Abraham expertly explained. Jacob cursed aloud.

"Get him back in his armor, throw him over your shoulder and lets get him to the defensive bunkers, they got medics there." Jacob barked. Abraham quickly holstered John's rifle and threw the unconscious soldier over his shoulder before sprinting ahead with Jacob and the rest of Blue team while praying that the run would be uneventful.

John's mind seemed to drift, as he was unconscious, images of his life flashed by him and past emotions and experiences came and went. John found himself feeling a floating sensation and all he could see was white.

"Don't…be…sad…I…lo-"

"Sarah? Sarah!" John searched the area frantically, but all he saw was white. And soon, Sarah's voice was wrenched from his memories.

"No, no, no, give it back!" John screamed, he didn't know what was taken from his, only that it was important.

"Don't lie…" It was Sarah's voice and John searched for it's origin, but it too was ripped away.

Memories seemed to flood John, then leave and soon John found himself completely alone, not able to remember anything besides his memories of boot camp and what happened after.

But then again he didn't need his other memories, he was a soldier, what good would it do him to remember the past?

John Edward Ackerson, Rank: Private, Serial number: 37453, company: Baker, 2nd Battalion, Infantry regiment/Marine, Blue team. The no feel soldier, the warrior that cannot die, that does not care, that does not feel. He lives to kill, he was born to kill, that's all he does, that's all he will do.

John licked his lips. "The taste of blood…is always so sweet." The white light seemed to dissipate and John felt himself slip into a coma.